Cindy J. Drake Business Coaching

Do Emails Have You On A Leash?

How many emails are in your inbox? Emails are crucial in business as a communication tool, it’s a central point for all our workflows.  These days you can run your business from absolutely anywhere with the power of WIFI, a phone and an application. Technology can help us be efficient.

If not managed appropriately, email can hinder your productivity. You’ll find the higher your position, usually the higher the number of emails you’ll receive. Reading and responding to every message can become draining on time and energy. We’ve compiled a few strategies, tips & tricks below for you to help ensure that emails don’t control your life.

Organise your mail, don't empty or ignore it

  • Block SPAM emails
  • Unsubscribe from unwanted promotional emails
  • Remove or file email that doesn’t require a response
  • Review critical emails and check your schedule for best times to manage any actions or responses
  • File appropriately

The two minute rule

If the email will take less than 2 minutes to read and respond to, then action it now. The idea is that it will take you longer to read, store and then re-read again later rather than just quickly addressing it now.

Create a Filing Structure That Works For You

A suggested proposal could be:

  • Inbox
  • Archive
  • Actions (Do, Delegate, Delete or Defer)
  • Read/Review
  • Waiting for (emails waiting for a response or action)

Set A Schedule For Checking Your Emails

Process your mail box once or twice a day and lock the time in your calendar. Make it a routine to ensure you stick to the time properly. Read crucial emails and address less crucial emails as time permits.

Minimise your time spent on emails

Remember, an email addressed to your means you are usually addressing someone else’s agenda not your own. Aim to shorten your time on emails and keep it down to a minimum where possible.

Shut down your mailbox

…If it isn’t your allocated “email” time. Stop being disrupted by notifications and close your mailbox. You can always arrange a standard response email to ensure people know you only read your emails at certain times during the day.

 

Potential Email Message: “Due to high workload, I am currently checking and responding to e-mail twice daily at 12:00pm AEST and 4:00pm AEST. If you require urgent assistance (please ensure it is urgent) before this time, contact me by phone on 555-555-5555.

Find out how to set up automatic replies here:

Create rules for your inbox

Rules (also known as filters) are there to sort your emails and automatically categorise them to a folder. There are so many possibilities with rules, be sure to dedicate some time to create and alter them to best suit your needs and save time in the long-run.

The most commonly used rules by small businesses are:

  • Categorise social media (eg. all emails from @facebook.com) into a separate folder to look over later
  • Rule all emails with specific words or a name, to be filed into a separate folder eg. “meeting”, “blog” or “John Smith” into the Read/Review Folder
  • Categorise all client’s or supplier’s emails to automatically be a certain colour to make them stand out amongst the other emails

Find out how to set up rules here:

Set up template emails

If you often find yourself sending similar emails such as feedback, trouble shooting, purchase enquiries, customer complaints & meeting suggestions, setting up some template emails will be beneficial and time-saving.

Find out how to set up template replies here: